34 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF. 



for boating and sailing inside the reef, and was 

 famed as a zoological collecting ground. Acres 

 and acres of coral reef stretched away in every 

 direction, bathed by the warm waters of the 

 Gulf Stream, that swept by and through the 

 olive-hued coral branches, burdened with food 

 from the warm belt and the Caribbean Sea. 



That night the doctor told the boys about 

 the reef, and outlined their plans. " We must," 

 he said, " combine business with pleasure. We 

 are going to make a complete examination of the 

 reef, and collect every animal upon it the vari- 

 ous kinds of shells and corals, the birds, fishes, 

 and sea-weed. And, further, we must learn all 

 about the ways and habits of the inhabitants of 

 this wonderful garden of the sea, observe how 

 the coral grows and how fast ; in fact, store up 

 all the facts we can. A portion of every day 

 we will spend on the reef ; then at night we can 

 assort our finds and discuss them." 



It is needless to say that the boys looked 

 forward to this programme with delight and 

 pleasant anticipation. 



The doctor had made some arrangement by 



